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Civil War: Riots Over the Union Draft | The Draft

Learn how men on both sides in the Civil War, desperate to stay out of battle, found ways around the mandatory conscription laws—and took part in the largest protest in American history. In this clip from The Draft, discover the underlying tensions within both the North and the South over the draft. In New York, long-simmering resentment over the unfair substitution draft system exploded in the historic draft riots—which prompted essential changes in the draft system.

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